You’ll likely be provided with a standard customer copy of listings, but don’t stop there — ask your agent for further and more detailed information, including how long the property has been on the market and even whether it was previously listed, withdrawn, and/or relisted for a lower price. Public records will give information such as original age of home, mortgage history, name of owners, previous sales, property deeds, property taxes, judgments, or liens, etc. You can also find out whether permits were obtained for home improvements to see if everything done was up to code.
Don’t neglect this search or this step in the home-search process, or you could end up regretting it.
Some of this critical information is available online through research, but it’s best to go through your agent, who has access to much more real estate and property information than you could find on your own.
MAKING THE CHOICE
After you’ve followed the steps above, and you’ve double- checked with your agent that you have done so, it’s decision- making time! Are you going to put an offer on the house? Before you do, please keep the following in mind: • You might need to make concessions on some of your hopes for your home, since there’s no such thing as a perfect home. Especially for first-time homeowners, first homes are often considered “starter” homes that
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